James Potter Sr
by AnonymousFanFictioner80117
Summary: James Potter and his life during Hogwarts and after. More info in the first chapter.
1. Chapter 1

**This is going to be a story about James Potter Senior, and it is going to start when he is starting Hogwarts, although I wrote a small part in the beginning about his younger life. I will be trying to publish new chapters regularly, but I can't promise anything! I hope you enjoy and please review!**

* * *

James Fleamont Potter was born on March 27, 1960 to Fleamont and Euphemia Potter. As their only son and coming later in their lives, he was loved and pampered throughout his childhood. This caused him to grow up maybe a little spoiled and arrogant, but essentially a good person. He was a pure-blood wizard, and, like many old 'pure' wizarding families, had a large amount of money. James spent most of his young years in his large manor house, and while it must be fun to live there, he eventually got bored as he was the only child of the family and rarely left the house. This could have been what caused him to become a trouble-maker, or it could have just been in his blood. The early years of James' life was quite uneventful, at least, before he got to Hogwarts.

* * *

When the time came for James to go to Hogwarts, he was excited beyond belief. He wanted to learn magic, play Quidditch, but most of all, he wanted friends. On the Hogwarts express he seemed to already find a new friend, Sirius Black. They sat together in a compartment, shared by Lily Evans, later known as Lily Potter and Severus Snape. This was when James first realized he thought Sirius was cool, liked Lily, and hated Snape. While Snape was attempting to cheer up Lily, James and Sirius have their first conversation with both Snape and Lily.

"You'd better be in Slytherin," said Snape, encouraged that Lily had seemed happier.

"Slytherin?"

"Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" James asked the boy lounging on the seats opposite him. Sirius did not smile.

"My whole family have been in Slytherin," he said.

"Blimey," said James, "and I thought you seemed all right!"

Sirius grinned.

"Maybe I'll break the tradition. Where are you heading, if you've got the choice?"

James lifted an invisible sword.

" 'Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart!' Like my dad."

Snape made a small, disparaging noise. James turned on him.

"Got a problem with that?"

"No," said Snape, though his slight sneer said otherwise. "If you'd rather be brawny than brainy —"

"Where're you hoping to go, seeing as you're neither?" interjected Sirius.

James roared with laughter. Lily sat up, rather flushed, and looked from James to Sirius in dislike.

"Come on, Severus, let's find another compartment."

"Oooooo …"

James and Sirius imitated her lofty voice; James tried to trip Snape as he passed.

"See ya, Snivellus!" a voice called, as the compartment door slammed. …

* * *

"Firs' years, over here! Firs' years!" called an alarmingly large man whom James did not know the name of.

"Firs' years! Only four to a boat! Get in, hurry now!" James scrambled into a boat, followed by Sirius and two other boys he did not know.

"All right, then. Everyone in? FORWARD!"

The fleet of at least a hundred boats suddenly lurched forward. James was starting to get nervous, but didn't show it. He had always tried to act cool and confident, and as Sirius didn't seem worried, he didn't see why he should be. He looked at the other two boys in the boat. One seemed very nervous and looked as if he was about to faint. The other one seemed, not confident, but not nervous, and had a shabby and poor look about him. All too soon, they had reached Hogwarts and started climbing out of the boats. He looked up at the massive castle and experienced a feeling of wonder. He had been told of the castle from his parents, but still was in awe by the sheer size of it. The man who brought them to the boats led them up to the front doors and knocked 3 times. The sound echoed loudly. Suddenly, the door opened and standing there was a lady with her hair in a tight bun and looking very strict, as though she had just caught a wrong-doer.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."

"No problem, Professor McGonnegal."  
Professor McGonnegal turned and led them through the doors and into a corridor off to the side of what James assumed was the Great Hall. He knew what to expect, as his parents had told him, in detail, how they were sorted.

"Okay children, as you know, you are about to be Sorted. There are 4 different houses at Hogwarts, Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff. Whichever house you get sorted in to will become like your family while you ..."

James, no matter how excited and nervous he was, found his attention slipping. He already knew about all of this, and he just wanted to be Sorted.

"...if you will follow me, we will now enter the Great Hall, and I want you to line up along the staff table."

The first years followed her out of the corridor, all trying not to be first. Professor McGonnegal walked out of the Hall and returned a few moments later, carrying a stool and the ancient and dirty Sorting Hat.

"Anderson, Thomas"

A nervous looking boy walked forward and placed the hat on his head. After a minutes hesitation, the hat shouted out,

"RAVENCLAW!"

The boy took off the hat looking relieved and walked over to the table that broke out into cheers. A few names later, "Black, Sirius" was called.

_Come on, come on! Please be Gryffindor! _Thought James desperately. He really wanted a new friend, and he wanted Sirius to be with him in Gryffindor.

"GRYFFINDOR!" _Yes! _Thought James. _I can finally have a friend!_

Slowly, the line of first years shortened. "Evans, Lily", the girl who was on the train, was sorted into Gryffindor. "Lupin, Remus" was called. The shabby looking boy who James and Sirius sat with in the boats stumbled forward and put the hat on his head. The hat thought about it for a while and then shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!" James noticed that he was only the second boy to be sorted into Gryffindor.

Finally, it was his turn. "Potter, James" was called and he walked forward, trying to act calm. He sat down and put the hat on.

_Well, well. Another Potter, huh? Well, it's obvious where you should go._

"GRYFFINDOR!" James felt a feeling of great relief. He trotted over to the Gryffindor table and sat down next to Sirius. "Well, I guess you were the one to break the tradition."

Sirius smiled back at him. James didn't pay much attention to the rest of the Sorting, but he did notice that "Pettigrew, Peter", nervous boy who was also in their boat, was sorted into Gryffindor, and "Snape, Severus" was sorted into Slytherin. Later, after the feast he went up to his new dorm room that he shared with Sirius, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. He went to sleep that night feeling full and happy, thinking about his first day at Hogwarts tomorrow.


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry, this one's a little shorter and a little boring, but I have a few ideas for the next chapter and it'll get more interesting. (Hopefully) Please review!**

* * *

James woke up, feeling groggy and disoriented. It was a few seconds before he realized where he was, and he jumped suddenly out of bed with a yelp of joy.

"Finally, you're up. I was just about to hex you awake." James looked to the source of the voice to see Sirius watching him with a grin on his face.

"You don't even know any!" James shot back, but in a joking way.

"You better watch out, then. First day of classes."

"Oh shoot! We better get to breakfast!"

James and Sirius sprint out of the room, racing each other.

* * *

"Here are your schedules Mr. Potter, Mr. Black. Mind you get to class on time."

Professor McGonnegal was waking around hanging out the schedules to all of the Gryffindors.

"Sure thing, Professor." Sirius grinned cheekily up at her. Professor McGonnegal pursed her lips and walked away.

"All right, what have we got today?" asked James while cramming a piece of toast into his mouth.

"We have... Transfiguration with McGonnegal-"

"She'll probably give us detention for something as soon as we walk in."

"Charms with Flitwick, and double Potions with Slughorn."

"That's with the Slytherins! That means _Snivellus_." says James, looking over Sirius's shoulder. Sirius snickered.

* * *

"During this class we will be Transfiguring objects, animals, and eventually, humans. But I must warn you all that if any of you prove yourself unable to control yourself while working in this classroom, you will..."

"Wow, doesn't seem too strict on rules, does she?" Sirius whispers sarcastically. James fought to hold back a laugh.

"...we will not be Transfiguring anything to big yet, so don't get to excited. Today we will just be turning matches into needles. Miss. Evans, please come up here and hand out the matches please." The red-brown-haired girl named Lily got up and started handing out matches.

"Look, it's Snivilly's girlfriend." James didn't know why, but this made him angry. Sirius, seeing the look on James face, says "What's up?" but James just shakes his head and starts working on the match. James was the first one to make a difference, closely followed by Lily, then Sirius. Showing the class the difference in their needles, she awards Gryffindor 10 points.

* * *

The rest of the day was uneventful, up until Potions. James and Sirius take a seat in the back, and are joined by the other 2 boys in their dorm, Remus and Peter. They both looked nervous when sitting down next to James and Sirius, but grateful when James smiled warmly at them. When Snape passes their table to sit down, James hissed "Hey, _Snivellus_."

Sirius and Peter laughed but Remus frowned very slightly, though hiding it and hitching a smile on his face when the other boys looked at him.

"Okay class, settle down, settle down." Professor Slughorn says.

"Today we will just be reading a little bit about the theory of potion-making. It is important to know the theory before you begin making potions. Please open your books to Chapter One and begin."

James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus all groaned quietly in unison.

"2 solid hours of pointless reading?" says James dejectedly.

"Well, seeing as we cannot begin mixing potions until you learn the theory, I would not say it's entirely pointless, Mr. Potter." came a voice from behind them. All four boys spun around in their seats and saw Professor Slughorn standing behind them, but they could see he was smiling.

"Now, I would suggest that you boys open your books, or else you won't have time to finish before the end of class."

"Yes, sir." It was Peter who replied, and he hastily opened his book and began reading. The others followed, though James and Sirius did it as if they wanted to, and didn't mind in the slightest, but as soon as Slughorn walked away, they stopped pretending to read and started talking at random.

* * *

"Ugh, this day is TOO long. I can't believe we already have homework." complained Remus at the dinner table later that afternoon.

"Hey, look. It's Snivilly." Sirius points him out walking out of the Great Hall with Lily. James stands up and calls, "Hey, Snivilly! How's your day going? I hope you don't have any homework yet, 'cause the teachers won't be able to read a word of it, with your greasy hair dripping all over the place." Sirius laughed a loud, booming laugh that rung across the Hall. A few people turned and watched. Snape whipped out his wand, but Lily grabbed his arm and said "Ignore him." Lily takes Snape, who looked like he would have loved an excuse to curse James, by the arm and led him out of the Hall. James sits back down. "What a git. He doesn't even know how to send out sparks with his wand yet, who does he think he's kidding." Sirius says scornfully. But James, for some reason, kept thinking about how Lily was holding Snape's arm. He realized Peter was talking, gave himself a mental shake, and with great effort, brought himself back to reality. He joined the conversation, pushing thoughts of _Snivellus _to the back of his mind.


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay, so this one is a little different, it's just about them pulling a prank and it's a little boring.(Sorry) But next chapter should be more interesting! Please review and give your feedback! Thanks!**

* * *

Over the next few weeks, the 4 first year Gryffindor boys had mostly normal days, or as normal as you can get at Hogwarts. It was the day before the last day of September, and the 4 boys were getting ready for bed in their dorm.

"Guys, I was thinking, since it's the last day of our first month tomorrow, we should end it in style." Sirius says, a grin on his face.

"Yeah? What're thinking?" asks Remus absentmindedly.

* * *

"Are you sure about this? It seems...mean." says Remus, fidgeting nervously.

"Remus, chill out. We've been here for a month, we haven't done anything too mean, so that makes up for this." Sirius replies.

"Well...okay. Just, don't get me in trouble, I'm worried about enough stuff." replies Remus.

James snorted. "Like what? Homework?"

Remus flushed, and saying hastily, "Never mind, nothing."

"Okay, where is Peter with the rest of the books?"

"Right here." puffs Peter, looking like he was pretending to carry a large sack of something. James grabs the invisible load, muttering "About time" and opening it. Inside revealed a load of shrunken books.

"Okay, Peter, you're sure this is all of the books?"

"Positive." he replied.

"All right, lets go, and hurry."

"Wait, how are we supposed to get into the Ravenclaw Tower? We need the password."

"Aw Remus, you're such a doubter. You really think we haven't got that figured out?" says James.

"The Ravenclaws don't have a password. You need to answer a riddle to get in."

At that point, they had reached the wall that concealed the entrance. On the wall was a silver knocker in the shape of an eagle. Peter reached up and pulled it.

"Which came first, the phoenix or the flame?"

All three boys looked to Remus. He looked faintly annoyed before answering.

"A circle has no beginning."

The door swung forward and they ran through hastily.

"Wait, what if there are Ravenclaws still in the common room?"

"Of course there won't be, you dolt! It's 3 in the morning."

They placed all of the books down on the floor, and returned them to almost normal size, but not completely normal size, because they wouldn't have fit.

"Okay, we have to first put the Speaking Charm on them first, and then make them fly around." says James. "Oh, and Peter, go stand by the door and hold it open, because as soon as we charm the books, we're going to have to run."

They did the Speaking Charm first, and suddenly, the air was full of the shouts of "NERDS! NERDS!"

"Hurry!" said Remus frantically. They did the flying charm, and had to duck as the books suddenly flew up the staircases, around the chairs, and up to the ceiling. They could all hear the sudden thundering of Ravenclaws coming running down the stairs.

"Run!"

All three boys ran to the door, joined Peter, and sprinted back to their own common room. Once safely hidden where they belonged, they burst into laughter, thinking about how long it would take to get all of the books back and under control.

* * *

The next morning the boys woke up, then remembering what that did last night, burst into laughter again. They went downstairs, preparing to act as though they knew nothing about what happened and were still laughing. When they got to the bottom step, though, they stopped abruptly because they had just walked into Professor McGonnegal and she looked furious.

"Boys." she said in a clipped voice. "The Headmaster wants to see you." They followed her out of the common room and down into a corridor they knew all too well lead to the Headmaster's office. They reached a stone wall guarded by two stone gargoyles.

"Chocolate Frogs" she said, and they sprang to life and jumped aside. The stone wall opened and they walked through onto a moving spiral staircase. At the top they reached a smooth oak door with a brass knocker shaped like a griffin. McGonnegal knocked on it loudly. A deep voice from within the room said, "Enter." McGonnegal pulled in the door and they walked in. Dumbledore sat behind his desk, looking faintly amused with the situation. The portraits of previous headmasters on the wall were all sleeping, but James knew better and could see them opening an eye to see what was going on every now and then. Dumbledore drew up 5 chairs with his wand and said "Sit down." All four boys sat down, but Professor McGonnegal remained standing. She looked as though she was about to burst with angry thoughts.

"I have never been more ashamed by Gryffindors! Not only did you steal books from the library, which Madam Pince is _very_ stressed about, you bewitched them to attack other students. I cannot believe that anyone of you could do such a thing! It is despicable, it is repulsive, it is..." But, she apparently ran out of things it was, because she finally sat down in her chair with a huff. To James' and his friends' shock, Dumbledore smiled.

"I'm sorry, Professor, but what on Earth do you have to be smiling about?" snapped McGonnegal.

"I merely wanted to congratulate the boys on such fine magic at their age, although I do agree it was wrong to do it and punishment is deserved, but I will leave that with you, Minerva." he added, inclining his head in Professor McGonnegal's direction.

"I think a week's detention, 20 points from Gryffindor each, and a letter home to your parents is fair. No, don't look at me like that,Potter, you deserve it." For James had stared at her in horror at their punishments.

"You may go now." They all got up and hastily walked out of the room.

"Great, my mum's going to go ballistic!" complained James.

"So will my folks," said Sirius, "but when have I ever cared what they thought?"

"My mum won't care, it's only House points." piped up Peter.

"I just can't believe I still got in trouble." said Remus angrily, punching Sirius.


	4. Chapter 4

**If you read the third Harry Potter book (PoA) then you should know what's happening with Remus. If not, it will be revealed later on. I hope you enjoy! Please review and tell me if I need to fix anything! **

* * *

James woke up to find Sirius hunched over on his bed, an open letter next to him. He got out of bed, walked over and sat next to Sirius.

"You okay?" he asked. Sirius lifted his head and James saw his eyes looked bloodshot, as if he'd been crying.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." replies Sirius, and gets up to leave. James grabs his arm and pulls him back.

"No, you're not okay. What happened?"

Sirius heaves a sigh and says, "It's nothing. My parents were just a little mad about the whole 'detention' thing. But it doesn't matter."

"_Just a little mad_? Really? Come on, you can tell me. Were they awful?"

"I guess. And they were already mad about me being sorted into Gryffindor. This on top of that just made them...lose it." He gave a small little chuckle.

"Well, I remember you saying you didn't care what they thought, so why don't we just forget about them, and if you want, we can send them a curse in an envelope."

Sirius laughed at this, then stood up. "You're right. I really don't care what they think. C'mon, I'm starving." James followed Sirius out of the room and down the stairs.

* * *

"Wairizrimusanpier?" asked Sirius with a large mouthful of food.

"I'm sorry, what?" asked James in between laughs. Sirius swallowed, took a sip of pumpkin juice and said,

"I said, where is Remus and Peter?"

"Oh, they're still sleeping. I saw them on the way out." Sirius burst out laughing.

"Remus is going to lose it when he realizes we let them sleep this late. They'll probably be late to class."

"Good point. Lets go wake them up." Sirius shakes his head and mutters, "You're too nice for your own good."

"What was that?"

"Nothing. Let's go."

* * *

"Oi! Peter! Remus! Wake up! Now!" Both Peter and Remus stirred sleepily in their beds. James turns to Sirius and says,

"Don't worry, I know how to wake up Remus. REMUS! You're late for class!" At this Remus sat bolt upright and shouts,

"Why did you let me sleep?!" Both Sirius and James fall over laughing. Peter finally sits up in his bed.

"Whasgoinon?"

"You slept in late and you're going to be late to class." Meanwhile, Remus is running around frantically trying to get ready.

"Hey, Remus. Are you okay? You don't look so good." James just looked at Remus's face and saw that he looked pale and peaky. He also look nervous for some reason.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you sure? Maybe you should go to the hospital wing."

"No. No, I'm fine. I don't want to miss class. Come on, let's just go." Slightly perplexed, James and Sirius left the room, followed by Remus and Peter.

For the rest of the day, James, Sirius and Peter noticed that Remus was acting funny. He seemed to be getting more pale as the day went on, and increasingly nervous. By the time the final bell rang, he looked as though he was being sent to his death.

* * *

"Where's Remus? He said he would catch up with us." James looked around, but couldn't see him anywhere.

"I don't know. Maybe he finally went to the hospital wing. He looks like he drank a slow-acting poison." Sirius sat down and shook his head in disbelief.

"_I don't want to miss class." _Sirius snickered.

"Let's go check the hospital wing after dinner." says Peter.

* * *

After dinner the boys walk up to the hospital wing, but Remus wasn't in there. They looked around, and saw that Madam Pomfrey, the nurse, wasn't there ether.

_That is _weird!thought James. _She's never out of this place. _

"Maybe he's up in the dorm. Let's go check."

They boys checked the common room, their dorm, the library, the Owelry, everywhere they could think of, but they couldn't find him. Eventually, they just gave up and went to bed.

* * *

In the morning, James, Sirius, and Peter went down to breakfast, and in the Great Hall they finally saw Remus. He, for some reason, looked like he was coming from the large front doors, and, what was more, he didn't look any better than he did yesterday. When the 3 boys saw him, they ran straight for him. When Remus saw them coming, he looked scared. James was the first one to reach Remus.

"Where were you?"

"What happened?"

"Are you okay?"

Remus looked incredibly nervous.

"I-I'm fine. I just wasn't feeling good, so I went to the hospital wing."

"But we looked there, and you weren't there!" Remus looked even more nervous at this.

"Oh, y-you did? You must of just missed me." Remus replied nervously.

"What?"

"Just, come on, we need to get to class."

* * *

As the day went on, Remus seemed to become more and more normal, so that by dinner he was himself again.

"I can't believe the amount of homework we have!" complained Peter.

"Hmm. Well, as it's Saturday tomorrow, you should have plenty of time." Sirius snorted.

"Who does homework on a Saturday?"

"Well, when are you planning to do yours?" Remus shot back.

"I did mine already, unlike the idiot sitting next to me."

"Can someone please help me? I have no clue what to do for the Transfiguration homework." Peter pleaded.

"Why don't you open a book, then." snorted Sirius. "And besides, we don't have time to do it tomorrow. First Hogsmade weekend." Remus rolled his eyes. "Sirius, you know only third years and up can go." James snorted.

"So? That doesn't mean we can't find a way to go. I say we take the Cloak and sneak out."

"There's a secret passageway behind the mirror on the fourth floor. We all go under the Cloak and sneak out through there, and the tunnel leads straight to Hogsmade."

"I don't feel like getting in trouble for the second time this week."

"Come on! This could be our only chance to go!"

"That is so not true. We can go in third year."

"Fine. You can stay, but I'm not waiting 3 years to go. Peter?" Sirius and James turned to Peter to see what he thought. He looked alarmed at being asked to pick a side.

"I-I think we should stay. We could always go next time." Peter stuttered.

"Fine. We'll sit in the castle and do _homework._" Sirius huffed.

* * *

The next morning, James was the first one to wake. He got up out of bed and dressed quietly so as to not wake the others. He walked over to the window and looked outside. The sun was just coming up, and it cast a weak light over the grounds. James noticed a tree that was swinging its branches wildly.

_Is that a Whomping_ Willow? he thought. His parents had told him all the details they could remember of Hogwarts, but he couldn't remember anything about that tree. _They probably just put it there after m parents left. _he decided. Shrugging, he charmed 3 pillows to fly at Peter, Sirius, and Remus and walked down to the common room.


	5. Chapter 5

The next few weeks at Hogwarts passed quickly, and before they knew it, it was almost Halloween. As was usual at Hogwarts, the spectacular decorations were going up around the castle. The suits of armor were bewitched to turn into skeletons every time someone passed them. Bats were frequently seen flying down the corridors and in the Great Hall. But the most amazing decorations were seen at the Halloween feast. There were large jack-o-lanterns every where, and the 4 biggest pumpkins were carved to look like the 4 Hogwarts founder's heads. A thousand bats flew around the Hall, swooping in and out of the jack-o-lanterns. James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were one of the first few to walk into the Great Hall.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" asked Peter nervously.

"Yes! We just need to have a clear shot." James replied.

"Oh look! He's already here!" Sirius had just spotted Snape sitting at the Slytherin table.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" asked Remus.

"Yes! We just need to get a close seat!" Sirius reassured Remus for what he thought was the hundredth time. The four boys came up with an idea to prank Snape during the Halloween Feast, and they had been working hard on the spell all night. They all sat down at the long Gryffindor table, as close as they could to Snape. It was lucky that the Gryffindor and Slytherin tables were right next to each other, but they didn't want to be _too _close to Snape, or he would notice them and get suspicious.

"Okay, ready Remus?" Sirius said in a low voice, so they didn't run the risk of being heard by Snape.

"Yeah." He shot the charm straight at Snape's plate, and it glowed bright yellow for a second, then turned back to normal.

"Nice." James high-fived Remus. "Now come on, let's move down a little, or Snape will blame us." They all scooted down the bench a little, just as Dumbledore stood up at the staff table.

"Welcome, to the Halloween Feast! Now, I don't want to bore you all with a speech, so I only have one word for you. Enjoy!" He sat down, threw his long beard over his shoulder and began eating the food that had appeared on platters in front of them.

"Look at Snape, look at Snape!" whispered James excitedly. All four boys turned to look at Snape, who had previously been piling food on his plate and was now about to eat. The four boys watch feverishly as he shoveled mashed potatoes on his fork and put in his mouth. For a moment it looked as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened, but as Snape swallowed, he turned into a bright yellow canary matching the color his plate had glowed when the spell had first hit it. Snape the canary gave a loud squawk and turned, with a _pop _back into his normal human self. James, Sirius, and Peter were all laughing shamelessly, and Remus, who had been trying to hold back a laugh, burst and joined in laughing. A majority of the students in the Hall were either laughing or staring and pointing. Eventually, people starting talking among themselves again and went back to their own business. Snape, however, was staring around, looking for the cause of his bird transformation. His eyes caught James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter, who were still laughing at him, and his gaze hardened. He, though angry, seemed reluctant to bring more attention to the embarrassing moment, so he turned back to his table, though not touching any food. After the first course and the delicious desserts, people started to get up and walk out. As Sirius, Remus, James, and Peter walked out, they were met by Snape. He looked furious.

"I know it was you who did that to my food." he growled.

"Did what to your food?" Sirius asked in a falsely nice voice.

"Don't play dumb, _Black_." Snape sneered. "Although I know it's fairly easy for you."

"Are you insulting me, _Snivilly_?" growled Sirius. He had whipped out his wand and had it pointing in Snape's face. Remus grabbed his arm and said in a warning voice, "Flitwick." Sure enough, Professor Flitwick was making his way over to them. Quickly and almost unnoticeably, Sirius had slipped his wand back into his pocket.

"Not fighting, are we boys?" asked Professor Flitwick in his squeaky little voice.

"No, Professor." said James in an unnaturally polite and sweet voice.

"All right then, I would suggest going up to bed now. Good night." he walked off and was soon swallowed by the swelling crowd leaving the entrance hall. James turned back to Snape.

"Yeah, Snivilous. Why don't go run along with your _Slytherin _friends." and the four boys walked up the staircase, laughing at Snape's furious expression.

* * *

The next morning James woke up to find the dorm deserted. He dressed quickly and went downstairs into the common room. He found his three friends there, apparently in a heated debate.

"...and if we don't do something, he'll go tell McGonnegal!" Sirius was saying to Remus.

"Yes, but we don't even know if he will go to her, and if he does, what's the big deal? It's not like we did something really terrible."

"No, we didn't, but knowing Snape he'll milk it for all he can. He'll say that it could have went wrong and we could've poisoned him or had him stuck like a bird. And even if he doesn't snitch, so what? He deserves to be hexed."

"What's going on?" James sat down in a chair across from them. Peter jumped into the conversation, clearly eager to make sure James knew what was happening from a third-person point of view.

"Sirius thinks Snape is going to tell McGonnegal about the bird thing last night and he wants to silence him, but Remus doesn't think it's a good idea." Peter said quickly.

"Wait, what do mean by 'silence him'?" James asks, turning to Sirius.

"Not like hurt him or something!" Sirius said hastily. "Just like, I dunno, put a Silencing Charm on him or something."

"That's not that bad!" James says, now turning back to Remus. "It's not going to hurt him. And be honest, you don't want to get in trouble again, right?" Remus sighed. "I suppose. But I'm not helping you. And just so you know, he could easily get someone to take the spell off him, so it's not the best plan." He pulled a book out of his bag that was leaning against his chair and disappeared behind it. Sirius and James got up, then stared at Peter, who was still sitting in his chair, trying to look as though he wasn't there.

"Yes?" he asked when he saw then looking at him.

"Are you coming with us or not?" asked Sirius, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Peter looked quickly at Remus and back again before answering.

"Yes, I suppose." he finally said.

"Well, let's go then." And all three of them walked out through the portrait hole.

* * *

"There he is! Peter, get over here before he sees you!" Peter scrambled to get behind a suit of armor next to the ones James and Sirius were hiding behind. Snape was walking from the entrance hall, having just finished breakfast. He had a book in his hands and seemed to not be aware where he was walking. As soon as Snape was at a place where they had a clear shot, Sirius said,

"Now!"

"Silencio!" James whispered. Snape stumbled a little as the force of the spell hit him, and he looked around to see who had hit him. Peter, James, and Sirius pressed themselves further against the wall. Snape made to say 'What happened?' but no sound came out. James bit down hard on his tongue to hold back his laugh, because Snape was only a few feet away. Apparently deciding to enlist the help of one of his fellow Slytherins, he walked down the steps where the Slytherin common room was presumably held. As soon as the rest of his cloak disappeared around the corner, the four boys extracted themselves from behind the armor and an up the stairs, laughing openly.

* * *

**This one is a little long and boring, but they're pranking Snape, and that's always fun, right? Well, please review and tell me if there's anything I need to fix/change. **


	6. Chapter 6

A few days later, James was the first one to wake up in his dorm, and as he sat up, he remembered something. He threw a pillow at Sirius to wake him up.

"Wasthematter?" he asked groggily.

"It's your birthday!" Perking up slightly, he looked down to end of his bed where there was a pile of presents. James threw pillows at Remus and Peter to wake them up as well.

"Happy birthday." Remus said sleepily, seeing Sirius pulling the presents closer to him. Sirius grinned at him before grabbing one the packages and ripping it open. Peter just grunted from his bed.

"Thanks, mate!" Sirius said to James. He had gotten him a large box full of Sirius's favorite sweets. Chocolate Frogs, Acid Pops, Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans, Cauldron Cakes, and other assorted candy.

"No problem." James grinned at Sirius as he popped a Fizzing Whizzbee and his mouth and he started to levitate a few inches off his bed. When he fell back down he continued tearing the wrapping paper off the rest of his presents. Remus had gotten him a book entitled Q_uidditch Through the Ages, _and Peter had gotten him a pocket Sneakoscope. All three boys were watching Sirius as he opened his 4th present. Inside the badly wrapped package was knitted sweater in green and silver, and it had a large serpent on the front.

"Who gave _that_ to you?" Peter asked.

"Is there a note?" asked Remus, although James was pretty sure that they both knew who is was from.

"No note. But I definitely know who its from." said Sirius angrily. His birthday cheeriness seemed to be gone. "My parents." James felt so bad for Sirius. He knew they were mad that he broke the family tradition and was Sorted into Gryffindor, but he thought it was really mean to send him that on his birthday.

"Lets just go down to breakfast. Come on." Remus said in a hesitant voice. James knew that he, like him, was trying to make Sirius forget about the sweater.

"No. There's something I want to do." Sirius said angrily. "I'll catch up with you in a minute." he added, seeing their worried faces. James, Remus, and Peter walked uneasily to the door and down to breakfast.

As they were sitting down at the table, Sirius comes running up to them. He had a smile on his face.

"What did you do?" asked Peter.

"Nothing." Sirius honestly. "I just charmed the sweater to flash red and gold and I added a lion that was eating the snake on the front. And then I sent it back to them." Sirius laughed.

"Aren't they going to be mad?" asked James. Sirius shrugged.

"Yeah, but who cares?"

* * *

Later that day, in Potions, while they were creating a Shrinking Potion, Snape walked by James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter's table.

"Hey, Snivilly. You seem a lot _quieter _lately. Are you feeling okay?" James laughed at the look of realization and horror on Snape's face. But, luckily for them, Professor Slughorn just walked up to their table and said,

"How's the potion-making coming, boys?" so Snape was forced to keep walking.

As soon as the bell rang, Snape jumped from his seat and walked out of the room. The four boys followed him.

"Hey, Snivily!" Sirius called. Snape jumped and drew out his wand as though he had been waiting for an attack. Sirius just laughed.

"You don't have the guts to take me on!"

"Oh yes I _do!_" growled Snape. "Tonight, wizards duel, in that hidden corridor on the 5 floor."

"Fine then. James is my second. Who's yours?" Snape hesitated, then said,

"Avery." Sirius laughed.

"Are you sure he even knows your name?"

"_Yes_! Or do you just want an excuse to get out of fighting me?"

"No way." Sirius walked away, taking care to knock into Snape's shoulder.

"Are you really going to do it?" asked Peter, evidently awestruck.

"Of course not. But I am going to get him in trouble. Come help me find Peeves." About ten minutes later, they finally found him throwing ink pellets at the wall.

"Why, it's wee little Black and all his friends." Peeves said, flipping upside down.

"Peeves, you like getting people in trouble, right?" Peeves flipped back upright and looked suspicious.

"There's going to be a kid in the hidden corridor on the 5th floor at midnight tonight. Can you go there and make as much noise as possible and attract Filch?" At first James thought Peeves would refuse, but unexpectedly he sprang into a salute and sped off through the wall.

* * *

"You excited for later? Or are you going to chicken out like the snake you are?"

"Not a chance. But I bet _you're_ wishing I did call it off." James and Snape had met in the hallway as they were making their way to dinner. As they reached the Great Hall they both parted, unwilling to continue the fight while there were so many teachers present. James only had to look briefly over the Gryffindor table before he found his friends. Sirius and Peter seemed to be in deep discussion, and Remus, who was looking pale and sick again, was not touching his food. James went and sat down.

"...and I don't know if we should trust Peeves, maybe we should go straight to Filch." Peter was saying. James understood almost instantly that they were talking about getting Peeves to get Snape in trouble.

"But I think we can this time, because we're asking him to make trouble, and that's what he's best at. He loves when students get in trouble." Sirius was responding. James cut in to the conversation.

"I agree with Sirius." Both Peter and Sirius jumped because they hadn't realized that James had sat down. "It's not like we're asking him to keep watch for us while _we _sneak out at midnight. He likes trouble and mayhem." Peter frowned, apparently annoyed at being disagreed with, but let the matter go. James turned to Remus. "Remus, are you okay?"

"What? Yeah, I'm fine. Er, listen. I have to go." At the others questioning looks he added, "My mum is a little sick so Dumbledore arranged for me to Floo back home for the night. I'll be back tomorrow." He got up and quickly walked out of the entrance hall. James turned to the others.

"That's weird. He never said anything about his mum."

"Perhaps it just came up."

"I hope Mrs. Lupin is okay." Shrugging, James and the others turned back to their food.

When the boys got back to their common room, they started doing the homework they had gotten that day(or, in Peter's case, the homework that was due tomorrow) and they didn't go to bed until a quarter past eleven. While James was climbing into his bed, he wondered briefly if Snape was setting off to the hidden corridor, but a mere ten seconds after this thought had entered his mind, he fell right to sleep.

* * *

**This chapter one of my longer ones, as well as the previous chapter, but I hope it's not too boring. Please review and tell me if there is anything that is wrong or if you have suggestion for something that you think should be changed. **


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